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Tag Archives: new year

A better dad. A better husband. Better at praying and seeking God. A better worker, eater, reader, friend. Better helping around the house and sticking to our family budget. Better at listening and empathizing. Better at keeping my word.

I want to be a better version of myself. I think we all do, whether we admit it or not. It’s part of what makes us human.

But where does this feeling come from?

I think we know, deep down, that we’re capable of a little bit more. That we’re not leaving it all on the court, so to speak. That what we have to show for ourselves at the end of each day doesn’t tell the whole story about the passions and ambitions inside of us.

The problem is, we lack those last drops of self-discipline—that evasive “last-mile” effort needed to make any real progress. We start exercising, but give up. We eat better, but only for a few days. We reach out to friends, but quit when things get complicated.

That’s me. I’m notoriously bad at goals and New Year’s Resolutions. I didn’t make any in 2018 because I knew I’d fail.

But I’m done with that. I’m capable of so much more than my 2018. So this year, I’m starting from ground zero. I’m making 2019 about the fundamentals, because I’m still bad at those.

I have three goals for Q1 2019. Come April, I’ll evaluate my progress and decide what to do for Q2.

Jog for 30 minutes every weekday.

Read one book per month.

Get lunch with a friend once per week.

This post is my way of keeping myself accountable. I also want to challenge others to do this with me—DM me on Twitter if you’re interested.

I haven’t written in a while. I’ve been busy. The fall semester is coming to a close and I have two papers due this week and two exams next week.

I’ve also been busy writing for an exciting new startup I mentioned on this blog a while back. It’s no longer in stealth mode, per se, but it’s not quite ready for prime time. I’ll share more news here as it becomes available.

I’m looking forward to the new year. I like new beginnings. I had one last August when my wife and I moved back to Virginia. Things have been exciting since then, but I’ve definitely fallen into a few ruts that keep me from being as productive as I could be. I’m a big fan of new year’s resolutions. I’ll think of one regarding my productivity. I’ve already decided on two others: To work out every weekday morning and to cut out all red meat. I had done both for several months at the beginning of this year, but I let it all fall by the wayside after moving in August. I don’t anticipate any major life changes in 2015, so I’ll have no good excuses if I fall short again.